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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Jessica Glenza

Why this ex-collections agent wants to forgive US veterans’ medical debt

United States CFPB
An older white man with white hair, glasses and a clean-shaven face, wearing a suit with no tie, leans on what may be a heater alongside a high-rise window and in front of a big green plant, his fingers interlaced in his lap.
Jerry Ashton in lower Manhattan in 2019. Photograph: Kholood Eid/The Guardian

One of the founders of a non-profit that forgave more than $10bn in medical debt said he has a new goal: to convince the US government to forgive $6bn in debt it holds against military veterans.

Jerry Ashton, a former debt collector who was inspired by the occupy Wall Street movement, co-founded RIP Medical Debt. He has since retired from that non-profit, but it has taken on a life of its own: it surpassed its original $1bn goal in 2020, and has now forgiven $10bn and counting, affecting 7 million Americans.

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